Bonus Chapter IV

Night of Shadows, Night Eleven

Sandorium

Tomorrow was the Night of Shadows. Everyone was supposed to perform, except Sandorium couldn’t think of a single thing he could do to impress the humans on Sorana.

Well, not all the humans. There was one human in particular he wanted to dazzle, and this was his last chance to show off. He had to come up with something spectacular.

“We could recite the epic poems of the first unified empire,” Idrisan suggested. “It would be difficult, but if we divide it between the three of us, we should be able to memorize it in a day.”

Palforma sounded an amused rumble. ‘It would take three marks to recite the entire poem! I wouldn’t want to sit through that. Why would a human?’

After a head injury, Palforma struggled to talk, but with the silent tapping language of the Norka, he could easily communicate. Having the language downloaded into their INTs hadn’t been much trouble, and Sandorium was overjoyed to be able to converse with his old friend again.

He would always be thankful to Palforma’s human, Zia. Not only did she save the warrior’s life, she also gave him back the ability to communicate. Unlike Zia, Palforma could hear perfectly fine, but everyone had gotten used to speaking and using Norka at the same time, even when Zia wasn’t around.

“He makes a good point, Idrisan,” Sandorium agreed. “The epic poems would be good for a formal gathering on Talarian, but they are hardly appropriate for a human celebration. What about target shooting? All three of us are highly skilled with projectile weapons.”

Palforma sounded a negative rumble. ‘Too dangerous. The area will be crowded. It would only take one bad hit on a target bot to have it tumble into the audience and hurt someone.’

“You’re right,” Sandorium said with a negative rattle of his own. They’d been at this for a mark and still hadn’t come up with anything. They were running out of time.

The three of them were sitting under a tree on the edge of the large courtyard that made up the center of their small community. There was a stage set up at the center, and Sandorium could picture himself standing there staring blankly at the crowd as they waited for him to do something.

In his vision, everyone becomes bored and starts yelling insults.

Not that the humans would actually do that, but they might think him an idiot. Shylo would definitely decide he wasn’t worth her time.

As if his thoughts summoned her, Shylo appeared from a nearby building. She walked over with a big smile on her face. “Are you guys excited about tomorrow night?”

“Certainly,” he responded, standing up and offering her the patch of earth he’d been sitting on.

She shook her head. “I’m heading over to Nell’s place to help with costumes. She and Henni wrote a skit, and the three of us are going to perform it. I promise you’ll laugh, or um, rumble-laugh.”

“I’m sure we’ll find it very amusing,” Idrisan said, moving closer to her. Sandorium didn’t like that, so he shouldered Idrisan back and put himself between Shylo and the other warrior.

“What are you guys going to do?” she asked.

All three of them looked at each other, unsure what to say. None of them wanted to admit they hadn’t come up with anything yet.

‘It’s a secret,’ Palforma said.

“Oh, exciting!” Shylo exclaimed. “I bet it’s going to be wonderful. I can’t wait to see it tonight.”

“Shylo! Hurry up!” Henni yelled from the other side of the open area.

“Got to go. See you guys later,” Shylo said with a last smile before rushing off. Sandorium couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her short, light brown hair gleamed in the midday sun.

“Now I understand why you’re so adamant about this performance,” Idrisan said.

Palforma sounded a rumble of agreement. ‘She’s a sweet human, and my Zia says she’s very smart. She ran an entire processing plant on Wimol.’

Sandorium already knew that. He’d learned everything he could about the beautiful human.

Her favorite color was green. After finding that out, he’d tried to think of what his favorite color was. It took some time, but he decided it was blue. The same shade of blue as her eyes.

One of her favorite foods was shelm with torim sauce. Every time it was served, he made sure she got extra helpings.

She liked to spend time outside. He overheard her once saying she’d had to spend so much time inside the processing plant that she wanted to get as much sun and air as she could. He’d already talked to Zia and Palforma about building a domicile with a transparent dome on the roof where individuals could lounge and watch the stars without getting cold during Sorana’s winter.

“Sandorium, what do you think of that idea?” Idrisan asked, drawing him back to his companions.

Palforma sounded a loud rumble of amusement. ‘Sandorium didn’t hear you. He was distracted, but I can answer for him. It’s a bad idea.’

Idrisan sounded an annoyed rattle. “Let him answer.” Idrisan turned his gaze to him. “I said we could do a small but difficult obstacle course.”

“That would be hard to set up on a stage,” Sandorium said with a negative rattle.

Idrisan sounded a rattle of agreement, the loud volume indicating he was irritated. “You’re right, but what else is there? We are warriors turned colonists. We don’t have any special skills or talents to show off.”

‘What about the lasorite from our early training?’ Palforma suggested.

“You want us to do the lasorite for everyone?” Idrisan questioned. “It’s been many solars since any of us practiced that archaic form of combat training. The only reason we learned was because it’s tradition. It’s not practical for modern training or war.”

“No, Palforma’s idea has merit,” Sandorium argued. “The humans have never seen one performed and might be impressed with our precision timing. We could do the cross-body version where one of us goes against the other two.”

“If our timing isn’t perfect, one of us is getting brained,” Idrisan pointed out, although he didn’t sound deterred.

Palforma pointed to the scared plating on his head then tapped, ‘It wouldn’t be the first time!’

He and Idrisan both sounded rumbles of amusement at Palforma’s joke. “If we’re going to do this, we need to start practicing now,” Sandorium said, looking around the square. There were groups of humans and Talins doing things together near the stage. “But not here.”

“We could use the landing pad,” Idrisan said, pointing in the direction of the cleared piece of land not far from the town. There was dense forest with only one road between the town and the landing pad. It gave them plenty of space and privacy.

All three all sounded rumbles of agreement, and without another word, headed out.

Sandorium had signed them up to go last, hoping that by the time it was their turn some people would’ve wandered off. He’d been wrong.

“Are you sure we should do this?” Idrisan asked as he gazed out at the crowd from behind the stage. Right now there was a single human singing. He was the second to last act. When he was done it would be their turn.

‘We can’t back out now,’ Palforma said with a quick, comforting pat to Idrisan’s shoulder. “Besides, I don't think anyone will think badly of us if they don’t like what we do. Did you see how they cheered for the little children that fell all over each other when they were trying to act out a dramatic scene from an Ugarian soap opera? They applauded as if the children were professional Ugarian actors. To the humans, it matters more that we try our best, not that we are perfect or impressive.”

Although Palforma made a good point, Sandorium couldn’t help but agree with Idrisan. He was having second thoughts too.

“It’s worse for us that all the humans are so talented,” Sandorium said mournfully. “They’re amazing!”

Both men sounded rumbles of agreement. How could they compete with so much creative talent?

‘This is going to be so embarrassing,’ Palforma said.

“At least you already have a human,” Idrisan said. “After tonight, none of the other humans will want to come anywhere near the two of us.”

Palforma sounded a rumble of amusement. ‘What you guys don’t understand is that Zia will be the first one to tease me after this.’

The last act finished. Sandorium looked at Idrisan and Palforma. “It’s time.”

The men sounded rumbles of affirmation, and Sandorium turned so they could line up behind him. They’d decided to do the traditional entry used when the lasorite was performed in front of the military school leadership.

After Astan congratulated the last act and introduced the three of them, Sandorium waited until he’d left the stage and the crowd was quiet. It was important they heard the rhythm of the men’s footfalls as they walked onto the stage.

As they’d practiced, the three of them walked onto the stage with heavy footfalls, keeping perfect cadence and setting the beat for the rest of the lasorite.

The audience went silent as the three of them took their places at the center of the stage; Idrisan and Sandorium facing out and Palforma facing them with his back to the audience. They remained still for several beats before Palforma bent his knees and did a backflip, sounding a loud war rattle.

The moment his feet hit the ground, Sandorium and Idrisan started moving. It might’ve been many solars since they performed this tradition, but it only took an afternoon of practice to bring it all back. The three of them moved together seamlessly. They punched, kicked, and clawed the air in unison, punctuating each individual movement with a rattle of aggression and ending each set of movements with a war rattle.

Everything they did was in perfect coordination, and they ended the lasorite with Sandorium and Idrisan’s backs to the audience and Palforma facing front. As they’d rehearsed, Palforma did the last three moves by himself, while Sandorium and Idrisan remained perfectly still.

Sandorium felt the air move as Palforma slashed his claws close to his throat then whirled and did the same to Idrisan. With a last leap, he landed with a loud thud on the ground in front of the stage, letting out a roar. Then he stood up and bowed his head.

Although he couldn’t see the crowd, Sandorium felt a sick sensation building in his chest. They’d finished performing and yet the audience didn’t make a sound. There’d been clapping and cheering after every other performance, but now there was only stark silence. Had their lasorite been that horrible?

“That was epic!” someone shouted, and all the humans burst out in wild applause. He couldn’t tell, but Sandorium thought the applause was louder for the three of them than it had been for any other performance that night.

“You guys were amazing!” someone else shouted.

Sandorium and Idrisan turned around and jumped off the stage to join Palforma. The three of them bowed as they’d see the humans do. Because they were the last act, the humans rushed up to them instead of remaining in their seats.

“What was that?”

“You guys were so fast; I can’t believe you didn’t accidently hit each other!”

“Did you invent all that stuff?”

Even some of their fellow Talins joined the humans crowding around them.

“I wish I’d thought of performing a lasorite.”

“I haven’t seen one done since my early days at the academy. That was well executed!”

“We could all do one next year, the kind that pits pretend army against pretend army. That would be good practice for us and entertaining for the humans.”

Of all the voices speaking at once, it was a single, soft human voice that got his attention.

“Could you teach me some of what you did?”

He looked over to see Shylo standing slightly behind him. He turned to face her as she spoke again.

“I don’t mean I want to learn all the big jumps, and, of course, I can’t rattle or roar, but the way you guys stepped in unison reminds of a type of dancing they did back on Old Earth. I saw vids of it as a kid.”

“It would be my pleasure to teach you,” he responded with a soothing rumble.

She held out her hand. “Then come with me, Sandman, so we can find a quiet place. I want to show off my new moves tomorrow.”

He accepted her hand and let her lead him off. He’d expected this night to end in humiliation. Instead the performance earned commendations from the humans and Shylo wanted to spend time alone with him.

“Best night ever,” he mumbled.